Mural Tablet in Bruton Parish Episcopal Church

The Mural Tablet in Bruton Parish Episcopal Church is an inscribed marble memorial affixed to the interior transept walls of historic Bruton Parish Church on Duke of Gloucester Street in Williamsburg, Virginia.

The inscription commemorates the birth of American representative government and memorializes two direct figures in the Atkins family heritage: Governor Sir George Yeardley and Minister Reverend Richard Bucke.

Inscription Text

To the Glory of God and Commemorative of the First Representative Legislative Assembly

Held in America, which met in this county, in the Church at Jamestown, on July 30, 1619.

"Where Sir George Yeardley, the Governor being sett downe in his accustomed place in the Quire, those of the Council of Estate sate nexte him on both handes. But forasmuch as men's affairs doe little prosper where God's service is neglected, all the Burgesses tooke their places in the Quire till a prayer was said by Mr. Bucke, the Minister, that it would please God to guide and sanctifie all our proceedings to His own Glory and the good of this plantation."

Historic Colonial Assembly Map

The map below marks Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg and the 1619 Assembly site at Historic Jamestowne:

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1619 Assembly Lineage Connections

Both the Governor who presided and the Minister who opened the assembly with prayer connect directly into the ancestral tree:

graph TD SGY["Sir George Yeardley, Knt.<br/>(ca. 1587–1627)<br/>Governor who presided"] --- TF["Temperance Flowerdew"] RB["Rev. Richard Bucke<br/>(1582–1624)<br/>Minister who offered opening prayer"] --- BB["Bridgett"] SGY --> AY["Argoll Yeardley"] RB --> MB["Marah Bucke<br/>(b. on Sea Venture, 1609)"] JA["John Atkins of Virginia"] --- MB AY --> THOR["Thorowgood & Lawson Alliances"] THOR --> LAW["Paulina Sue Lawson"] JA --> ATK["Atkins Lineage"] ATK --> PHA["Patrick Henry Atkins"] LAW --- PHA

Colonial Church Network Tree

• 1619 Jamestown Assembly Ancestral Figures
  • Sir George Yeardley (Presiding Governor) m. Temperance Flowerdew
    • Argoll Yeardley m. Ann Custis
      • Allied lines leading to Thorowgood & Lawson
  • Rev. Richard Bucke (Assembly Chaplain) m. Bridgett
    • Marah Bucke m. John Atkins (b. 1610 in Virginia)
      • Early Virginia Atkins descent

Historical Documentation

• Book Reference: Bruton Parish Church Restored and Its Historic Environment, Rev. W.A.R. Goodwin (1907), p. 124.
• Google Books Digital Reference

Related Pages

• Sir George Yeardley
• Temperance Flowerdew
• A Long Time Ago/03 Bucke
• A Long Time Ago/11 Yeardley
• A Long Time Ago/30 Bruton Parish Churchyard